The Nation

Unemployment, international tensions and the federal budget deficit are named by the American public as the biggest problems facing the nation, the Gallup Poll found. About equal proportions named unemployment (23%) and international tensions (20%), while 13% named the budget deficit. Next was drug abuse, cited by 8%. In a separate Gallup Poll on education, the public identified drugs as the biggest problem confronting schools. By wide margins, adults said they favored expulsion of students caught using drugs and allowing teachers to search lockers for drugs. And by a narrow 49-44 margin, they even approved the testing of students for drug use by urinalysis.